PG&E: Fine money isn’t coming from victims

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The Pacific Gas and Electric Company said on Monday that nearly $4 million in fines and expenses connected to a plea agreement with the Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey last week will not impact victim claims.

The company is set to plead guilty on April 24 in a Chico Courthouse. The plea was delayed due to the confirmation of two COVID-19 virus cases in the county that forced the courthouse to be closed.

The company will be fined almost $3.49 million for the 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of unlawfully causing a fire which includes three special allegations for PG&E’s causing great bodily injury to a firefighter; causing great bodily to more than one surviving victim, and causing about 18,804 structures to burn.

As part of that plea deal, a federally appointed court monitor will send a safety performance report to Ramsey for the next two years and the company has to rewater the Miocene Canal. When Ramsey made his announcement last week he said the fine was separate and apart from the negotiated $25.5 billion set aside for fire victims in PG&E’s bankruptcy proceedings ($13.5 billion for private claims; $11 billion for insurance companies’ claims; and $1 billion for government entity claims including $270 million to the Town of Paradise; $253 million to the County of Butte; and $47.5 million to the Paradise Recreation and Park District). Ramsey said PG&E’s plea will also include a payment of $500,000 to his office for investigation’s cost.

Paradise Irrigation District and the Paradise Unified School District have yet to announce any settlement deal with the company.

The company ‘s announcement essentially confirms Ramsey’s statement.

Under its reorganization plan, the company said the fine money will be given to the Fire Victim Trust from income earned on the distribution to be made to the subrogation claimants under the Plan. As a result, there will be no reduction in the amount available for wildfire victims.

The company says that the move allows it to comply with its funding commitments it has to ensure a successful emergence from Chapter 11, and expedites the fair and timely payments to victims. The company will still owe $25.5 billion, assuming both the California Public Utilities Commission and the Bankruptcy Court approve its reorganization plan. A court hearing on that plan is set for May 27, following a vote solicitation process for relevant parties that will take place in the coming weeks.